1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus using a scanning and transmitting function of a digital multifunction peripheral, an image input apparatus, a document distribution system, and a control method therefor. In particular, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for registering a scan and transmit button in association with a digital multifunction peripheral and performing scanning and transmission by only a user operation that associates an already-stored document and a digital multifunction peripheral with each other; an image input apparatus (such as a digital multifunction peripheral); a document distribution system (e.g. comprising an information processing apparatus and an image input apparatus); and a control method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
These days, a large number of document management systems are available for reading documents in a paper-medium form using a variety of readers, for sorting such document information in electronic-data form, and for storing the sorted data in databases in order to make data searches easier. In particular, in recent years, more attention has been given to activities and laws, such as internal control or the SOX Act, for the purpose of improving or providing for the sound running of companies or organizations. Therefore, a number of opportunities to store scan data (i.e. electronic data representing scanned documents) obtained by converting documents into electronic-data form is increasing with the trend toward information technology (IT) as a format for document storage.
One example of an apparatus for reading a variety of documents is a digital multifunction peripheral, which can be equipped with many functions, such as copying, printing, faxing, scanning, scanning and transmitting, storing, and the like, and which has become widely available in offices. Users of such digital multifunction peripherals need to complete the operations they perform with these peripherals in a short time with a minimum of effort. In other words, they are required to carry out a job with such peripherals as quickly and efficiently as possible. However (and perhaps surprisingly), because of the complexity of the above-described digital multifunction peripherals, the practical reality is that users sometimes cannot easily execute an activity as potentially straightforward as a document scanning and transmitting operation. Users are therefore not exploiting the full potential of digital multifunction peripherals.
In an attempt to solve the above problem, conventional technology has proposed that a setting operation performed on an operation panel of a digital multifunction peripheral is implemented using an application that is running on an information processing apparatus (e.g. a PC) connected through a network to the multifunction peripheral (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-287389). According to this technology, as a result of registering a scan and transmit button with a digital multifunction peripheral, scanning and transmission can be implemented without occupying the digital multifunction peripheral (i.e. without keeping the digital multifunction peripheral unavailable to others for extended periods).
With this conventional technology, a user generates a file called a “shortcut to scanned document” through the information processing apparatus. Specifically, the shortcut file is generated by inputting scan information settings and a designated storage location with the user interface (e.g. monitor and keyboard) of the information processing apparatus (e.g. PC), and the generated shortcut file is registered with the multifunction peripheral, which thereby achieves a single-button operation.
As another conventional technology to simplify printing, a user interface using icons has been proposed. This conventional technology has proposed a print-instruction program in which the print settings for a specific printer have been stored associated with a “print settings” icon, using a special-purpose setting application, and a document data icon is associated with the print settings icon in order to transmit a print job to the printer (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-120041).
With this conventional technology, through an operation of dragging and dropping a document data icon onto a print settings icon, document data and print settings can be transmitted as a print job to a printer.
With the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-287389, the time a digital multifunction peripheral is occupied by a user can be shortened as a result of creating scan and transmission settings using an application running on the information processing apparatus. However, this method remains unchanged from conventional methods in that a user needs to perform a setting operation on the operation panel of a digital multifunction peripheral; therefore, a user cannot always create settings in a short time, fully exploiting the functions of a digital multifunction peripheral.
The method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-120041 provides operability, i.e., printing is performed by an operation of dragging and dropping a document data icon onto a print settings icon. This is an effective measure to allow a user to be freed from creating complicated settings. However, this is not sufficiently applicable to the case of scanning and transmission using a digital multifunction peripheral where there is originally no document to be processed, such as in the case of printing and, besides, the setting of a destination to which data is transmitted is necessary.